Former Celtic shot-stopper Alan Rough has claimed Karamoko Dembele has got the makings of a gem and expects the youngster to hit his peak for the Bhoys sooner rather than later.
Neil Lennon’s men secured a 2-1 win over Hearts at Parkhead on Sunday as the home fans celebrated their eighth consecutive league title with a win on the final day of the Scottish Premiership season.
In addition to Mikey Johnston’s impressive brace, the Celtic fans were treated to a brilliant performance from Dembele, who was handed his debut for the first team as a half time substitute.
The 16-year-old earned plaudits for his exciting dribbling and trickery, as the home fans cheered the young talent throughout his sparkling second half cameo.
And following his memorable senior debut, Rough has claimed that Dembele has got the makings of gem and backed him to become a future star at Celtic.
The former Bhoy also admitted that Dembele will need more games to get used to representing Celtic, but stressed the fans can look forward to seeing the youngster hitting his peak in the next couple of years.
“It looks as if he’s got the makings of it [becoming a future star at Celtic]”, Rough said on the PLZ Soccer show.
“The trickery that he’s got and at that age to go into a game like that and doing these step-overs, taking people on and being prepared to shoot, not passing it to anybody else, he wants to take a lot of authority.
“I think they’ve got a gem there.
"Sometimes you’ve got to nurture them a wee bit, but when you see what he did at the weekend [against Hearts], he’ll want more and more games now, he’ll want experience playing in front of that 60,000 and he’ll want to be introduce at the right time.
“I don’t think we’ll have to wait very long, I think at 17 or 18, you will see him at his peak [for Celtic].”
Despite his impressive debut, it remains to be seen whether Dembele is included in the matchday squad for the Scottish Cup final against Hearts this weekend.
